


Mistaken Identity

by starlightwalking



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Back to Middle-Earth Month, Crack, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Out of Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 20:16:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18080198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking
Summary: Glorfindel is tired of being mistaken for his namesake.





	Mistaken Identity

**Author's Note:**

> Part II of March 8th’s B2MEM prompts. The bingo square for this fic is “Glorfindel of Gondolin = Glorfindel of Rivendell” from the Silmarillion Fanon Trope Inversion card. In my (brief) research for this fic, I think I discovered that this “trope” is actually canon - as much as anything in Tolkien’s work is canon. Still, interesting prompt.
> 
> This is wildly out of character for grand ol’ Glorf, but let’s chalk that up to Glorf of Gondolin being all hoity-toity while Glorf of Rivendell is more down-to-earth...and not me having written this at 3:30am and channeling my own exhaustion and irritation into the story. Oops! Somehow this is more crack than any of my crack ship pairings have been...

Glorfindel had only been in Imladris for a week, and he'd already been mistaken for his more famous namesake at least fifty times. It's  _so_  frustrating—he agreed to this mission in part to get  _away_  from Laurefindil's legacy looming over his head, but it turned out the bastard was a legend in Middle-earth, too.

He was in a terrible mood. He'd had to learn an entire new language, Sindarize his name, sail across the sea, and trek all the way to Imladris, and even  _here_  he can't make a name for himself.

"My lord," Lindir said, bowing deeply. "Lord Elrond has requested your presence in his office."

Glorfindel nodded and sighed, beginning the trek over to the other side of the building. Elrond had seemed to believe him when he said that no, he  _wasn't_  the same Glorfindel who'd fought valiantly in Gondolin, but he was in no mood to deal with  _anything_  the Lord of Imladris had to offer.

"What is it, Elrond?" he demanded, crossing his arms in the doorway.

"This," Elrond said drily. "Come in, Glorfindel."

Feeling like he was a child back in Aman again, being scolded for saying a bad word about Laurefindil, Glorfindel sat across the desk from Elrond.

"You can't go around snapping at people like you have been," Elrond said mildly. "They take it as a message that they have displeased the Valar."

Glorfindel let out a short, barking laugh. "Really!" he cried. "Well, I take their incessant questions about my  _secrets_  personally! All of them want me to admit I'm really the 'Glorfindel of Legend' as if I'm their new best friend they can trust—but  _no_ , Figwit, I  _didn't_  know your grandfather, shut up! As if I'd keep the same name if I wanted to keep my identity a secret..."

Elrond waited for him to finish. "You can use this to your advantage, you know. In Valinor, you may not have been able to pass for your namesake, but here...none of us know better."

Glorfindel looked at him funny. "You want me to lie? To not make a name for myself?"

"You are here to serve the Valar, not yourself," Elrond said. "Do what you wish, but keep your real goal in mind."

Glorfindel sighed. "Alright," he agreed. "I'll be more civil. Maybe I can spread some of my own rumors. But..." He sighed. "Do you think they'll  _ever_  believe me?"

"No," Elrond admitted, "but at least your deeds here will never be forgotten—they will be more grand in connection with the original Glorfindel, not less. No one shall write you out of our histories."

"We can hope," Glorfindel muttered. For some reason, he doubted that, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, there’s the nice metatextual irony I enjoy. Poor Glorf, getting written out of nearly every adaptation...!
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting!  
> You can find me on tumblr [@arofili](http://arofili.tumblr.com/).


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